Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 7,11-17
It happened that soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her, 'Don't cry.' Then he went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, 'Young man, I tell you: get up.' And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and glorified God saying, 'A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people.' And this view of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
A young man-the only son of a widow-dies. The mother's life breaks. Every thread of hope seems to be cut off forever. Nothing is possible for the son or the mother--only to bury one and accompany the other, consoling her pain. Seeing the funeral procession Jesus is moved for this widow mother who feels her life broken forever. The evangelist notes that Jesus, as soon as he saw that heartbroken mother, "had compassion for her." It is a great compassion that makes him feel the mother's pain his own. There is a greatness in this feeling of Jesus that today in misunderstood and despised as a sign of weakness. Bu tin front of evil is the only answer that can change life. Jesus tells her immediately not to cry, then goes to the bier and says to the boy: "I say to you, rise!" Jesus speaks to him as if he were alive. So many are the youth today who live as if they were dead, that is, without hope for their future. Hope in a better world has been stolen from them. For them society is very often like a bad mother and father. The hope for a better world has been robbed from them. Society is like an unkind mother to them. They find themselves alone and disoriented in a world without a future. And they wait for someone to stop next to them and turn to them with words of life.